5.29.2015

from around

- it's no secret that I love On Being... some recent interviews I have been listening and relistening to:

Maria Popova, creator of Brain Pickings. Young and brilliant. The thing it got me thinking a lot about is what goes on here, on this blog. This blog started off with a model that was established by others. But, over the years I have thought a lot about what I want it to be and become. And have tried hard to create something that is about ideas and learning, a place of honest sharing and questioning, of inspiration and meaning and documenting. The internet is a young medium, and for all the gripes and criticisms we have of it - it has equal potential to be something amazing. And we, as the early shapers of it, have the opportunity to define what it is, and do something meaningful with it.

Brene Brown talking about vulnerability - too much to talk about here and now - but this resonates deeply with me. So important. All I can say is, listen and relisten.

- Green Porno - I posted on these when they first came out - but recently came across them again and they are worth a revisit.

- I have had some good conversations about the epidemic of "busyness" and what that really means. As a culture do we wear that word as a badge of validation? What does it say about us to say that we are busy? What does it make us feel about ourselves to say we are busy - or to keep ourselves busy? Is it bad time management? A distraction from feelings? Is it that we don't understand the importance of doing nothing? Read here and here.

- lots of discussion among friends and artists about the entire 2016 class of MFA candidates dropping out of USC. It's incredibly inspiring, despite the heartbreaking circumstances. Read their letter here.

- two friends, women I admire and love, are featured on Apiece Apart. Cheri and Jesse. Beautiful photos by two other friends, Laure Joliet and Ye Rin Mok.

- some good food for thought - the Man Repeller talking about the relationship between clothing that is flattering and clothing that is stylish - she sums it up well by talking about her recent love affair with a new pair of denim:

"I like — nay, love — these pants. They’re me. I know they don’t look good but I think they’re cool. They make me feel like a more interesting version of myself and that, to me, is what style is about: presenting a difficulty and attempting to unpack it or make sense of it. I can’t tell you exactly why I like them but I can sharply recall having never really cared for pants that do the things we’re supposed to expect of them: flatten our stomachs, tighten our asses, makes our legs look longer and leaner, yadi ya. Maybe that’s a function of my believing that fashion is not about what’s flattering and vice versa or maybe this is simply a matter of style. And the thing about style, like with everything else, is that if you believe in it, you have to be willing to fight for it."

I think about this same idea when I think about culture (it's standards of beauty) and when I think about art - and the long relationship we have had with beauty and goodness. It surprises me still how many people equate beauty with goodness.